First Line Friday Review: Year of Mistaken Discoveries by Eileen Cook

book cover of Year of Mistaken Discoveries by Eileen Cook

Title: Year of Mistaken Discoveries
Author: Eileen Cook
Release date: January 27, 2014
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pages: 272
Source: Edelweiss/Publisher
Reading level: YA

As first graders, Avery and Nora bonded over a special trait they shared—they were both adopted.

Years later, Avery is smart, popular, and on the cheerleading squad, while Nora spends her time on the fringes of school society, wearing black, reading esoteric poetry, and listening to obscure music. They never interact…until the night Nora approaches Avery at a party, saying it’s urgent. She tells Avery that she thought she found her birth mom—but it turned out to be a cruel lie. Avery feels for Nora, but returns to her friends at the party.

Then Avery learns that Nora overdosed on pills. Left to cope with Nora’s loss and questioning her own actions, Avery decides to honor her friend by launching a search for her own birth mother. Aided by Brody, a friend of Nora’s who is also looking for a way to respect Nora’s legacy, Avery embarks on an emotional quest. But what she’s really seeking might go far deeper than just genetics…

Year of Mistaken Discoveries is a fun contemporary read from Eileen Cook.  There are some more serious undertones which I enjoyed but mainly it was a book that I found to be supremely cute.  
Avery and Nora aren’t really friends by the time the book starts.  They have drifted apart over the years with Avery becoming the popular cheerleader and Nora becoming a loner.  However, that doesn’t mean Nora’s death doesn’t profoundly affect Avery.  It comes as a shock to her that Nora would take her own life and Avery feels a lot of guilt over the fact that she wasn’t there for Nora at the end.  This guilt leads her to decide to find her birth mom in honor of Nora, along with the help of Nora’s only other friend, Brody.
Admittedly the guilt about Nora was only part of the reason that Avery decided to start searching for her birth mom.  She had some other motives that were not very pure.  Avery was decidedly selfish.  Everything she did, she did for herself.  Sure she’d make it seem like she was doing it for someone else or some greater purpose but it truly was all about her in the end.  I really didn’t like Avery for most of the book because of this.  However, the other characters helped make up for my dislike of Avery.  First there was Brody.  He was a little mysterious but it didn’t take long for me to warm up to him.  He was a great guy.  Then there were Avery’s adoptive parents.  They were the perfect parents.  They played a huge role in the story and I loved reading a YA book with a parental presence.  Avery’s friends, Lydia and Shannon, were pretty good too although they were a little shallow.
The story was really fast-paced.  There was nothing really special about it but I enjoyed it.  Avery and Brody spend most of the book searching down Avery’s real mom and it was fun to see how they went about getting their information.  It read a little bit like a mystery.  It was a little predictable but I didn’t really think that was a bad thing in this case.
Overall, Year of Mistaken Discoveries is a wonderfully quick contemporary read.  It’s perfect for a rainy day and it will definitely leave you with a smile on your face.
What others are saying about Year of Mistaken Discoveries:
Adventures in Reading’s review: It was a truly great read but I just wish that the ending hadn’t felt so unfinished.” 
Other reviews for this author:
Want to know what other books were up for First Line Friday?

#1 – I was probably the first kid ever excited for summer to be over. – Better Off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg

#2 – There are rumors the day Emily Beam arrives at the Amherst School for Girls–in January, halfway through her junior year. – And We Stay by Jenny Hubbard

#3 – “You dropped something.” – Bright Before Sunrise by Tiffany Schmidt

#4 – Nadia and I scramble down the hill at the edge of school property right as the morning’s final late bell rings behind us. – Me Since You by Laura Wiess
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5 comments

  1. This sounds like a great read. I am unsure if I like Avery as a person since the only reason she is looking for her biological parents is because of the death of her old friend. Other than that, I will be sure to check this book out.

  2. She is an awesome author – I loved Unraveling Isobel for the same reasons you loved this one. She truly knows how to write characters who are likable and flawed and her book boys are so kind and nice.

    Lovely review 🙂